Gold Diggers Review

Despite what the title may suggest, this game does not take your money, which is quite nice (especially if you happen to be in need... of said money). The reason Gold Diggers does not take your money is because it's a new free-to-play offering from Netherlands-based developers Gamistry. And the more you play it, the more you'll discover that it's not a trifling friend. Indeed, Gold Diggers could even be your pal -- if you happen to dig it.

From what I can gather, you play as the Pippi Longstocking of the mining world (or something like that... she's got pigtails), who's piloting a large steampunk-style machine through the Earth.

You control this mine cart/drill thingy as it bores through different substances, guiding everything along with one finger and swiping out of the way of danger while looping around obstacles. As you can guess for a game that's cast in the endless runner mold, your goal is to last as long as you can, while collecting as much sweet, sweet gold as possible.

Now I ain't saying that Gold Diggers is a gold digger. But this game ain't messing around with any broke gamers. You can have your fun while playing, however, be aware that there's definitely in-app purchases buried in-between all the dirt and nuggets. That said, they are not plastered all over the screen and blatantly shoved up in your gaming grill. So you can get down, go 'head and get down.

That is, if you're looking for a somewhat charming take on the endless runner and shooting genres. Because that's just what Gold Diggers happens to be. From the premise, to the synthesized elements of different games, there's nothing all that original about Gold Diggers. But it's not trying to break new ground.

Rather, the Gamistry guys seem to want to get you into the action as fast as possible and work your fast-twitch reflexes. And that's just what happens very shortly after booting it up for the first time. The machine moves on its own, so all you have to worry about is making sure the front end stays out of trouble. The further you go, the faster and more dangerous it becomes.

Eventually, there are giant worms that come chomping after you. I gotta admit, those worms are probably my favorite part of the game, as they look like something out of Beetlejuice or Dune. With all of these dangers headed your way, you're gonna need some firepower to make sure that the gold digging continues.

Fortunately, you will come across a gun every now and then that will attach to the front of your mine train and suddenly turn the game into an 80s arcade shooter. The transition into this mode and then back out is pretty seamless and I was impressed with how integrated the two modes felt. I only wish the guns came more frequently or there was more variety to them.

While Gold Diggers has some nice cartoony polish to it, the visuals do not all fit together as nicely as they could. There are some weird design choices that to me seem like "lost in translation" kind of decisions. Most notably, the odd choice of having the speech bubbles pop up from the drill's car, complete with a different emotive faces from the main character, makes for a strange counterpart that serves to distract from the action on-screen.

Overall, Gold Diggers was a better title than I thought it was going to be when I first downloaded it onto my home screen. It's worth giving a try if you're looking for a new title that offers up some fun, fast-twitch action.